It's all about Hope

Look out for the signs that Allah gives each one of personally. It’s hair-risingly amazing!

It’s like a hand that constantly pulls you back up when you fall, not wanting you to be abandoned in this Dunya.
It’s like Our Lord talks to you directly, showing you ways and remedies to rectify yourself!

Look out for these very evident signs. Nothing happens to you by chance. It is all preplanned. You simply need to be prepared for it.
So the next time something stares at you in the face very vividly, open your eyes and heart and read the signs.

It can be an Ayah while reciting the Qura’n, it can be some random article you happened to click (It wasn’t random at all!), it can be stuff you see on the street which make you reflect, it can be some lecture you attended with half a heart and then ended up realizing how beneficial it actually was, it can be somebody’s company which makes your whole being want to change…

It can be anything.

Watch out for it, recognize it, bring it close to your heart and accept it. And bring about the change that it intended.

Like this:

Eid morning was blessed with a brightness that could only be linked to the supernatural.
The breeze; cold, refreshing and delicious, had just the right amount of coolness, enough to make me close my eyes, curve my lips and simply cherish its presence around me.
I could slowly sense the unexplainable connection between my inner being and the outer forces.

Stepping out of home, had that unbelievable sense of belonging, of being recognized and consoled even by the wind that hugged me from all sides. Seeming to express love, or perhaps a reassurance?
Like it knew there were too many things on the mind, like it knew the heart was craving for change, like it knew playing around, cooling my physique would calm me and put me at ease.
And that feeling deepened as the legs moved towards the chanting, the soothing rhythms of glorification and praise. The lips moved, as if in a trance, uttering, repeating, catching the rhythm, and intensifying that sense of well-being.

The uncertainty of a particular phase in life was meant to culminate here. Amidst this chanting. Amidst the voices of those who relentlessly praised the One, who instilled the ability to produce the sound. Amidst those who came to celebrate this blessed day.

It wasn’t a moment of understanding, but one of self-realization.

The bits and pieces still have to connect and make the larger picture. But this moment, this point in life, is one that is being cherished and surely one which will go, I hope, a long way.

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Limitations. Barriers. Confines. Borders. Boundaries. Constraints. Margins. Restraints. Restrictions- It’s everywhere.
To cross any, would mean serious, deep trouble. But who doesn’t?
For us humans, this trait of crossing all barriers and breaking all bonds is deeply inherent. It goes all the way back to our origin. You know where?

From Adam (A.S)! Our father and the first ever human to be created.

That Tree was way out of bounds. Forbidden. At no cost was he or his wife ever to come even a foot close to that Wonder in Paradise. This was an order directly from the One Entity Who is Irresistible.

Yet, the human desire got better of moral consciousness and the heart struggled to sever the bonds which shackled it from attaining what it ardently yearned for.

The Want got better of the Command. And the boundary was crossed. The damage done.

This happens to each one of Adam’s offspring every single moment of their existence. You and I. Our lives are peppered with such Wonder Trees, which are absolute no-nos in terms of their proximity.

But does it ever stop us from nearing it or crossing over it, eating from it and actually gloating over the achievement?
Going against the parents, getting close with non-mahrams, wagging the tongue for reasons other than good, betrayal, deceit, treachery, shamelessness, pretense, lies, fraud- all elements of crossing ethical restraints.
If you are human, you cannot help being this way. We come from the same mould.

When Adam (A.S) was sent down, was he sent with a weapon to combat this weakness of man? Do his children have any hope in inheriting it, to ensure their salvation?

When Adam faltered, when he and his wife realized their mistake, they cried to their Lord in distress and misery, in humiliation of having sinned.

“They said: Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. If You forgive us not, and bestow not upon us your Mercy, we shall certainly be of the losers.”
Al-A’raf; 7:23
“Then Adam received from his Lord, Words. And his Lord pardoned him (accepted his repentance). Verily He is the One Who forgives (accepts repentance), the Most Merciful.”
Al-Baqarah; 2:37

Allah the Almighty endowed upon Adam, the Unbeatable Weapon: The weapon of asking for Forgiveness.

THIS. This is what each one of us needs to hold onto and use fervently on a constant basis.
Allah, the Most High, the Most Merciful, forgave our parents, after they sincerely beseeched, realizing the magnitude of their sin.
He will forgive us too, if we crossed those borders unknowingly, and if we turn back to him in submission and humility. No matter how many times we falter.

We have a right over this family weapon, for our deliverance from the Hell-Fire.
Every other one is beatable.

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When we sit with somebody we love and who loves us even more, we listen to each and every word that they have to say.

Our heart swells and opens up, to soak in every emotion, every tone and every detail of the narration, not wanting to miss out on even a bit of their passionate talk.
We gasp at the right places, smile at others, nod attentively, sympathize with the eyes, or widen them otherwise.

When we sit with the Qur’an, do the Words of our Beloved Lord pierce our hearts much the same way? When every single word is being personally spoken to each one of us, do we open up our hearts to absorb the Beauty, Power and Wisdom of the One Who Loves us more than just about anybody else?

He narrates, as we sit down with Him. Do we gasp at places? Do we smile at the bounties He has promised us? Do we nod, acknowledging the blessings? Do our eyes widen at the punishment having disobeyed? Do our hearts throb with hope when He speaks about the depth of His Forgiveness and Pardon? Do our eyes fill with tears when He asks us why we remain ungrateful, refusing to Thank Him or even remember Him for every single one of the blessings that we selfishly accept and yet are too arrogant to acknowledge?

The narration goes past us. When Our Lord wishes to embrace us in His infinite Mercy, we, with our hearts constricted, eyes blind and ears deaf, push Him away.

Sit with Him. Hear His words and let it console your heart. Make an effort to not miss out on a single story that He tells us. For when we finally meet Him, we can say, with pride- We heard, Ya Rabb, and we obeyed.

And Giving Shukr to Allah for all these blessings every moment of everyday: Double Check.

And then Allah decides to take away every one of the above.
He loses his wealth, his health deteriorates, his children die, his wife leaves him, the society shuns him, and he is abandoned in the outskirts of the town that used to call home.

He didn’t lose one thing though: His unshakable, resolute faith in his Creator. He kept praising Allah, gave Shukr to Him even when sores erupted all over his body and he couldn’t even move.
He thanked Allah when there wasn’t a soul around to even help him for his basic needs.
He thanked Allah for guiding him, for making him understand the Truth.
He thanked Allah for keeping him alive.
He thanked Allah for all those many years of blessings, realizing how ungrateful he would be if he complained for those that he lost for only a short while.

His exceptional devotion and deep trust in Allah, gave him back every single one of the blessings that had been taken from him. More richer and more abundant.

There isn’t another human created, who had such strength of belief that even in adversity, he praised Allah for the blessings that had been bestowed.

Prophet Ayyub is one of a kind. A beautiful, gorgeous example of what a believing slave truly is.
His story, for you and me is: to imbibe from.

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With sparks in his eyes, and lips curled in contempt, the villain, with his head raised high, chin in the air and fists clenched, talks with the arrogance and hatred of a creature who has been denied his rights.
He literally spits on the ground and speaks with a voice that drips in unspeakable rage and fury:

“THIS IS NOT THE END…I WILL DESTROY YOU and every single one of your progeny. I will wreck your very lives. I will fight till I achieve what I aim to achieve.
I may be doomed, but I will not be doomed for eternity, alone.
I will not rest until each and every base, disgusting, clay-being from your loins has been led to his ULTIMATE DOOM!” [Evil Laugh]
[Fades into the glowing horizon]

The good guy looks on, his heart troubled.

He makes a vow to protect his family and his people from the villain’s vile clutches.
He warns his people to look out and secure themselves from the impending doom which was sure to approach them if they weren’t careful.
He mobilizes an army to fight ward off evil.

The battle rages. They protect themselves and defend their territory.
They strive. They fight.

And they win.

Good always Triumphs over Evil.

[End of Scene]

But has it?

Will Good triumph in OUR case? Didn’t something as real happen years and years ago?
Didn’t a despicable, foul creature make such a vow, pledging to unleash his evil on every child of Adam?

Isn’t this movie very real, then?
And how does OUR movie end?

Have we made a vow to protect ourselves from this treacherous creature?
Have we looked out for his wickedness and secured ourselves from the impending doom, which is bound to engulf us, by following his footsteps?
Have we protected ourselves from his incessant whisperings?
Have we mobilized an army to fight ward off his evil?

The ‘good guys’ would NEVER join ranks with the Enemy.They had a cause. A Brilliant, Worthwhile cause.
They fought for that cause. They gave it their all.
To vanquish evil, even if it meant death.

We have a cause and a warning too:

“Did I not Command you, O Children of Adam, that you should not worship Shaythan? Verily he is a plain Enemy to you!” [ Qur’an; 36:60]

We seem to be living reverse movie lives. We have pledged alliance with the perfidious enemy, happily and contentedly worshipping his deceit!
We have nothing to lose, while he has lost everything. He wishes to take us too with him.

We need to fight. To resist. We need to declare war on this real-life villain.
We need to drive him insane by defying his lethal commands. We need to trod on him and crunch him beneath our feet.

And when the time comes, we shall look upon him in disgust, burning in the depths of his Putrid Abode and say, for real:” Good ALWAYS Triumphs over Evil.”[End of the Real Scene]